Elian Gonzalez

The decision by the INS to return 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to his father is the correct one and certainly in the best interest of the child (Jan. 6). Had this child been from any other state or country, there would have been no discussion about this simple custody matter. It appears that Elian was kidnapped from his father, the custodial parent. Apparently there was no history of neglect or abuse by the father, therefore no reason for his child to be kept from him.

What is amazing to most of us is the bizarre notion that these allegedly “well-meaning” Cubans in Miami continue to dictate our policy with Cuba and now policy for Cuban children, as well. Perhaps if they really wanted to better the quality of life for the Cuban people, they would invest their energies and money in improving relations between the two countries, so that Elian and his father may soon come to the U.S. to visit relatives and enjoy a vacation together. The continued portrayal of Castro and the Cuban government as some kind of “evil empire” is in no one’s best interest.

IRENE BRIGGS

Huntington Beach

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So the Clinton gang has now demonstrated that they can be rolled by a few staged demonstrations run by Castro’s henchmen and flunkies. What are they going to do for an encore? Maybe reinstate the Fugitive Slave Act?

MICHAEL M. GERARDI

Beverly Hills

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Re Mark Fineman’s Jan. 4 article on how “fairly well-off islanders are now paying smugglers to get them to Florida”: Fineman seems genuinely puzzled by this phenomenon. Viewing my country solely through the prism of economics, he misses the overriding reason why we risk leaving the island on inner tubes and rafts.

When you can literally be put in jail for listening to the wrong radio station (i.e., Radio Marti), all the money in the world matters very little. It is not really a fiscal crisis, it is a spiritual one, a crisis of the soul, which drives us to take such desperate risks.

MARCIA DEL MAR

Calabasas